The first Algarve Piano Festival, taking place at TEMPO – Teatro Municipal de Portimão – since 18 February, says goodbye to Portimão on 8 April with a four-hand piano recital, performed by pianists Marialena Fernandes and Ranko Markovic.
This talented duo met in Vienna, where they were both professors at the two universities of music in this city.
In their spare time, they began to play together and, over time, they quickly became known, both in Austria and around the world where they have been playing.
Ranko Markovic was born in Croatia, becoming an Austrian, and Marialena Fernandes was born in Bombay (India), having, as her surname suggests, Portuguese ancestors.
Together they form a duo of high interpretive quality, characterized by the exquisite execution of their repertoire, which ranges from Schubert to Rachmaninov.
This is an unusual piano training in concert halls and could not fail to be represented in a piano festival that aims to assert itself in the national and international artistic panorama.
Thus, the 1st International Piano Festival in the Algarve will end with a "golden key", which, according to the Portimão Chamber, "was a huge success" and "will be held again next year".
This success was clearly evident in the participation of the Portuguese and Algarve public, with rooms sold out in almost all of the festival's concerts.
At the premiere, on February 18th, the venue was full to watch the Concerto for piano in four hands, starring Armando Mota and Mário Laginha, a show that was attended by the Secretary of State for Culture.
On March 4th, TEMPO hosted the Festival's second concert, again with Mário Laginha, this time accompanied by Pedro Burmester, with whom he forms one of the most renowned piano duos today.
On the 11th, it was the turn of the Portuguese pianist António Rosado to offer the public a mix of jazz and classical piano, followed, on the 18th, by the Russian pianist Alexey Sychev, who performed works by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, accompanied by the orchestra Portuguese philharmonic.
Finally, on March 25, it was Andalusian Borja Otero's turn to delight the Algarve public with his repertoire, which combines classic and contemporary authors.
The ticket costs 10 euros and can be purchased by clicking here on the BOL online box office or at the TEMPO ticket office (282402 475 or 961 579 917).
The Algarve Piano Festival is part of the “Program 365 Algarve”, an initiative financed by Turismo de Portugal with coordination of the Algarve Tourism Region, is promoted by Associação Arte do Sul, with artistic direction of Maestro Armando Mota, and has the support of the Municipality of Portimão.
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